The Hunger to Father: Pioneering Fathers and Father-Figures in 21st-Century America

Elliot, L. (2008). The Hunger to Father: Pioneering Fathers and Father-Figures in 21st-Century America (Doctoral dissertation, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2008).

ABSTRACT

This dissertation, inspired by the researcher’s personal experiences with the subject, studies novel, non-traditional, and innovative notions of fathers, fatherhood, and fathering in post-patriarchal, 21st-century U.S. society. The core problem is the issue of so-called “invisible” fathering that, while it is becoming more common place in today’s society, is still sufficiently hidden that it escapes popular notice and thus cannot be appropriately handled.


To address the problem, the dissertation first posits a crisis in current masculinity and discusses the concept in the context of classical psychological theory, before segueing to an examination of the historical record and corresponding literature surrounding popular images and myths of fathering, starting in the pre-industrial U.S., continuing through the Industrial Age and the classic patriarchal era of the 1950s, and tracing the rise of feminism before concluding an examination of the research surrounding today’s myriad family configurations.


The dissertation employs qualitative research to further address the problem, bringing a triad of approaches – heuristic, phenomenological, and hermeneutic – to create a depth psychological study of four subjects, one of whom is the researcher. Case studies examine three subjects who are non-traditional fathers, as defined in the research, and their approaches to and experiences with fathering, contrasting those experiences against an earlier, more traditional era and reinforcing the notion of the new father. A memoir of the researcher’s own experiences details the joys and troubles that come with functioning as a truly non-traditional father.


The work concludes that non-traditional fathering has been occurring for some years but is becoming more commonplace today, in the early 21st century, and suggests that it will only become more common. This posits the need for better clinical understanding of the phenomenon, and the dissertation provides guidance for clinicians who will likely encounter the “new father” in their practices, and offers suggestions for future research to expand the inquiry beyond fathers and sons to all manner of family dynamics.